against it - his age. But he came of a long-lived family, he had not a single gray hair, no one would have
taken him for forty, and he remembered Varenka's saying that it was only in Russia that men of fifty
thought themselves old, and that in France a man of fifty considers himself dans la force de l'âge, while
a man of forty is un jeune homme. But what did the mere reckoning of years matter when he felt as
young in heart as he had been twenty years ago? Was it not youth to feel as he felt now, when coming
from the other side to the edge of the wood he saw in the glowing light of the slanting sunbeams the
graceful figure of Varenka in her yellow gown with her basket, walking lightly by the trunk of an old birch
tree, and when this impression of the sight of Varenka blended so harmoniously with the beauty of the
view, of the yellow oat field lying bathed in the slanting sunshine, and, beyond it, the distant ancient
forest, flecked with yellow and melting into the blue of the distance? His heart throbbed joyously. A
softened feeling came over him. He felt that he had made up his mind. Varenka, who had just crouched
down to pick a mushroom, rose with a supple movement and looked round. Flinging away the cigar,
Sergei Ivanovich advanced with resolute steps toward her.